What Lies Underneath Trees
by borisinwonderland
Summary: The gang has another mystery to solve, but Daphne has two. The mystery of the ghost and the mystery of Velma. Why has she been acting so different? Daphne is determined to find out. Daphne x Velma pairing. Possible smut in future chapters. Enjoy
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello good people of the internet! Welcome to my first attempt at a Daphne x Velma fanfic. I absolutely love this pairing so I decided to write for them. Hope you enjoy ~

Chapter 1

Daphne's Concern

It was a Tuesday afternoon when Mystery Inc. received notice of a new mystery needing to be solved. It had been awhile since their services had been needed and the gang was happy to get back out there and solve a mystery...well, everyone but Shaggy and Scooby.

"No way man! The guy said ghost, and ghosts mean creepy castles with paintings that look at you and armored guys that follow you. No way," Shaggy explained as he reached for a sandwich out of the refrigerator.

"Shaggy, how many times do I have to tell you? There are no such things as ghosts. How many times have we been told that there is a ghost and it's just some guy in a suit or a projection? Every time Shag, every time," Fred said.

Fred was in the kitchen with Shaggy and Scooby, trying to hurry them up so they could leave. It would take them at least 10 hours to drive there and he had promised the man he had spoken to over the phone that they would be there by noon tomorrow.

They kept arguing and eventually Daphne stomped into the kitchen, a bag by her side, and a dangerous look rested upon her face.

"We go through this every time guys. Get in the van and you guys get two scooby snacks each. Got it?" she asked rhetorically. She knew they would get in the van and then they could finally leave.

Shaggy and Scooby turned to look at each other then raced to the van.

"Fred, would you take my bag out to the van? I'm just going to grab Velma and then we can head out," she told him. He nodded and proceeded to pick up the bag and then unceremoniously dropped it.

"Damn Daph, what are you bringing? Bricks?" he asked sarcastically.

She didn't answer and instead left the kitchen to search for her book loving friend.

"Velma?" she called out softly. Daphne knocked on the doors and then opened them when she didn't get a response. Finally she reached Velma's room but she wasn't there either. This left Daphne looking confused and a tad concerned. Where could she be?

A thought entered Daphne's mind and she headed out into the backyard. There she found Velma, sitting underneath a large tree, book in hand, and glasses placed firmly on her face. Daphne had to smile a little when she saw this. It was so typical of Velma that it made Daphne feel calm and relaxed. She slowly walked over to Velma until she stood right in front of her.

Velma didn't look up, in fact it was as if she had no idea Daphne was standing in front of her.

Daphne bent down and picked the book out of her friend's hands.

"Time to go Velms," Daphne said, still smiling.

They arrived in Trall Town around 9 am Wednesday morning. After driving for eight hours the previous day, Fred decided that they would stay at a motel and leave in the morning for the 2 remaining hours.

"Like, what are we gonna do? We've got three hours to spare man," Shaggy asked from the back seat.

"Rood!" Scooby said excitingly, wagging his tail very fast.

Fred nodded his head.

"Sure, I could go for a bite to eat," he agreed.

"Oh, and some shopping!" Daphne said, looking at Fred expectantly. He nodded his head again, which made Daphne squeal a little.

Usually at this point Velma would try to say that they should stop in at the local book store, but she stayed silent as she looked out the window. Velma hadn't spoken much at all actually. Yesterday she had only spoken when there was a direct question, and even then she gave short answers. The only one in the gang who seemed to have noticed was Daphne. She didn't want to ask Velma what was up because she knew that Velma was a carefully guarded person and may completely retreat in her head, but was still getting worried.

Fred put his right arm around Daphne and he began searching for a place to eat.

Daphne flinched a little when Fred had put his arm around her. They had kissed a couple of times but she didn't really feel a connection with him. But now was certainly not the time to tell him, so she just let his arm rest there until the car stopped in front of Zachary's Diner.

Shaggy and Scooby raced out of the car and into the diner, leaving Fred, Daphne, and Velma in the van. Fred just laughed and opened his door. Daphne was going to go out of Velma's door but Velma hadn't moved.

"Hey Velms, are you planning on leaving the car?" Daphne asked jokingly. Velma's head snapped to attention and she quickly scanned her surroundings. The look of realization finally kicked in and she got out of the car, shutting it after Daphne had exited.

Daphne smiled at her and linked their arms together, hoping to make Velma more comfortable. Velma looked at their arms then back up at Daphne, giving her the slightest smile before her feet began to move towards the door.

Once Shaggy and Scooby had eaten all the food that the diner had, the gang paid their share and left for the castle.

"It's not fair. We don't get to do any shopping because the pigs back there had to eat everything," Daphne pouted.

"Once we solve the mystery we can go shopping okay? I promise you we will," Fred said. He hoped that would suffice for now and it did. Daphne didn't say another word but gave Shaggy and Scooby one last glare.

By now even Fred had noticed that Velma seemed out of it and he decided to confront her about it.

"What's up Velms? You don't seem to be here. So where are you?" Fred asked. Daphne's eyes widened and elbowed him in the ribs which caused him to lose control of the van for a moment. Before he was about to ask what the hell that was for he saw the look on Daphne's face that said to shut up.

Velma looked over at the exchange between Daphne and Fred and shrugged.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm here. Actually we all are, look," she said as she pointed to the castle. The castle was beautiful, made out of stone and looked as if it had been there for hundreds of years.

Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby all looked at the castle with interest while Daphne was looking at Velma. She looked so tired. _'How did I not notice the bags under her eyes before? How long has she not been getting enough sleep for?' _Daphne thought to herself. Daphne placed her right hand on Velma's knee and gave her a warm smile.

Velma blushed a little and bit her bottom lip. She knew she had to look at Daphne but didn't trust her hot cheeks. Luckily for her, a man was running towards the van so Fred had to slam on the breaks, making everyone jerk forward and then back. There were various ow's, but everyone was okay.

Fred got out of the van and then the others followed suit.

"Hello Mystery Inc.! Sorry if I scared you, I tend to do that a lot these days...Anyways I'm glad you're here. My name is Mr. Trall, yes yes just like the name of the town. My family founded this town you know, very touching story. It was 1857..." Mr. Trall began but Fred cut him off.

"So what's been happening here?" Mr. Trall blinked at him a few times before speaking again.

"Ah yes yes! We have a ghost and other things that are haunting my family's castle. The castle is also a hotel and because of all the paranormal stuff that's been happening people haven't been coming," he stated.

"Like, what kinds of other things man?" Shaggy asked.

During this conversation Velma hadn't looked up once, and Daphne had had enough of trying to be patient with finding out what was wrong, even though it had barely been a full day. So she took Velma by the hand and led her behind the van.

"Okay so do you want to tell me what's going on or do I have to guess?" Daphne asked.

Velma leaned onto the van and looked down at her red shoes.

"Daph, I don't really want to talk about it," she whispered.

"How about if I tell you something about me? Like a secret for a secret. How does that sound?" Daphne offered. Velma looked up and saw genuine concern in her friend's eyes, so she nodded.

Daphne thought for a moment of what she could tell Velma. They had been together so long that she wondered if Velma didn't already know everything about her. Then she thought of something.

"So you know how Fred and I've kissed and how he really likes me and stuff?" Velma nodded. "Well, I don't think I like him. I mean I like him, just not that way. You know?" Velma's eyes widened in surprise.

"Have you told him?" Velma asked.

Daphne shook her head.

"Not yet. I haven't found the right moment to do it. Now you. Tell me something that's bugging you."

Velma contemplated on what she was going to say but again she was lucky and they were interrupted by Fred.

"Come on girls, we're heading to the castle. Mr. Trall said we have to leave the van here, so we'll have to walk. Don't worry Daphne, I'll carry your bag for you," Fred said and gave her a wide smile. She just nodded and turned back to Velma once he left.

"We are not done talking okay? I'm really worried about you and you need to talk to someone about whatever it is that's going on. Oh and next time, I'll make sure no one can interrupt us like that," Daphne promised. Again, she hooked her arm with Velma's and guided Velma towards the castle.

_'This feels nice. Being with Velma. And I think with a little prodding that she'll open up to me.' _Daphne thought to herself as she watched Scooby and Shaggy walk in front of them. Fred had tried to take Daphne away from Velma so that they could walk together but Daphne held onto Velma. Refusing to leave her side. Fred had a hurt look on his face but Daphne didn't care. All that mattered to her right now was Velma, and she wasn't going to let Fred get in the way.

A/N: There you go, first chapter :) Until next time and remember, reviews are my scooby snacks ~


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The Castle

Mystery Inc. walked into the grand castle with a look of awe all across their faces. It was a beautiful castle. The walls were made of stone, there were magnificent sculptures, and had beautiful pictures hanging from the walls.

"Hello guests. My name is Beth and will be assisting you during your stay. If you would follow me I'll show you to your rooms," the maid said to the group and began walking down the long corridor.

Scooby and Shaggy kept looking around them, expecting something to jump out at them at any moment. Fred was carrying most of the bags, and Velma had removed herself from Daphne's grip to examine the sculptures.

"Once you are all settled in Beth will bring you to the drawing room. Now if you excuse me I have some business to attend to," Mr. Trall said before leaving them.

It took them awhile to finally reach their rooms. The castle was so big they were wondering if they would able to find their way back to their rooms later. As if answering their questions, Beth presented them with maps. Everyone took them gratefully and Beth showed everyone their separate rooms.

Scooby and Shaggy were sharing a room, while Fred, Velma, and Daphne all had their separate rooms. Daphne's was next to Velma's to the right of the corridor, and Fred's was next to Scooby and Shaggy's to the left of the corridor.

Everyone was quick in putting their belongings in their rooms. They all wanted to explore the castle today before starting their investigation tomorrow. Although, Scooby and Shaggy wanted to explore so that they knew where the kitchen was.

"Mr. Trall is waiting for you all down in the drawing room. Follow me please," Beth told the group when everyone was out of their rooms.

Fred and Daphne were walking together, much to Daphne's dismay. She had tried to walk with Velma but Fred had distracted her so that by the time she looked back to Velma she was with Shaggy and Scooby. Daphne wasn't really involved in the conversation that Fred was having, and was instead thinking to herself.

_'I really should talk to Fred tonight. Enough is enough. And where does he...oh god! Fred get your hand off of my waist! There, it's off. And he looks hurt. Of course. Tonight. I'll talk to him tonight,' _Daphne decided. She then started to think about Velma, for the umpteenth time that day. _'What is going on with her? I don't remember anything happening recently. Did Fred say something to upset her? Did **I **say something to upset her? Oh I hope not. Maybe something happened...Oh I don't know!' _

As Daphne was talking to herself she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and walked right into Velma.

"Oof!" Velma said, falling forwards and having Daphne fall on top of her.

"Velms I'm so sorry!" Daphne exclaimed. Fred immediately helped Daphne up, but she shrugged him off once she was up. She leaned down to help Velma.

"It's alright. Just watch where you're going okay?" Velma said. Not sternly like Daphne had been expecting, but calmly. Velma gave Daphne a reassuring smile showing her that she was not upset.

Daphne gave a small laugh and nodded. She pulled Velma up and they kept walking, but not for long as they had reached the drawing room.

Beth opened the door to let the group in and then shut it behind them once they were all inside.

"Ah wonderful! You're all here. Did I tell you story of the town? In 1857..." Mr. Trall began but was cut off by Velma.

"Mr. Trall when did the odd occurrences begin?" she asked and pulled out a notebook and pencil.

Mr. Trall looked at her quizzically before shaking his head, as if remembering why they were there.

"Right right! It was four months ago. One of the guests complained about noises during the night. Then another guest claimed to hear cackling, like a witch. At first the guests weren't too alarmed, seeing as this is an old castle and they assumed that the walls were just creaky but then someone went missing. She turned up a week later but she had no memory of what had happened to her. Guests stopped coming soon after that," Mr. Trall said sadly.

"Did you inform the police?" Fred asked. Mr. Trall nodded his head furiously.

"Of course! But they gave up when there was no evidence. So, can you help us?" he asked pleadingly.

"Yep! We sure can. Come on gang, let's go do some exploring," Fred said, happy that they could look around.

The five of them left behind a very happy Mr. Trall and then started to decide who would explore where.

"Daphne and I will explore the top half of the castle. Velma, Scooby, and Shaggy you guys take the bottom half," Fred instructed. Daphne looked as if she was about to protest when Velma spoke.

"I'll explore outside the castle Fred. Scooby and Shaggy can handle the bottom half," Velma said. She wasn't asking, she was telling. She wanted time to herself, and knew that Scooby and Shaggy were likely to just spend most of their time searching for the kitchen and didn't want to be involved in that.

Without waiting for a response, Velma walked away from the group and towards the main entrance way.

Scooby and Shaggy looked at each other and nodded their heads.

"Alrighty then! We'll just be on our way..." Shaggy trailed off before running with Scooby to find the kitchen.

Fred just shook his head.

"Man those two are useless. But seriously, what's up with the Velmster?" Fred asked Daphne, as they started making their way up the stairs.

Daphne shrugged in response. She didn't want to talk about this with Fred, but he didn't seem to get the clue and kept going.

"I mean she knows that it's not safe to go and explore places on her own," Fred let out a sigh. That statement however, made Daphne mad.

"You let her go on her own all the time! You specifically tell her to go alone!" Daphne said angrily. She didn't know why, but she was just letting out all of her frustrations on him.

Fred gave her a surprised look.

"Calm down Daph," was all he said. They stayed silent for a little while after that. Daphne still slightly fuming and Fred not wanting to upset her anymore.

As they went further into the castle the walls became more intricate and luxurious. They entered any rooms that they saw but they hadn't found anything yet. Eventually Fred suggested that they sit down for a moment before continuing.

Daphne sat down on a chair that only held one so that Fred would not try to sit next to her. But wouldn't she know it he sat down on the foot rest right in front of her. Daphne hid her eye roll and glanced around the room.

_'Now. I should talk to him now,' _she decided.

"Fred, listen," Daphne started. "I know that we've kissed a couple of times and that you think that this is going somewhere but it isn't," Daphne explained. When he didn't say anything she continued. "I just don't feel that way towards you. At one point I thought I did, but that was a mistake. I'm sorry."

Fred stared at her for a moment before standing up and walking around the room. He'd stop and take a closer look at the figurines on the mantelpiece and the bookshelves. Finally he turned back toward Daphne and spoke.

"Why? What happened Daph? Is there someone else?" he asked sadly. Daphne could hear the hurt in his voice and felt bad, but she knew that this was the right thing to do.

Before answering Daphne asked herself, _'Is there someone else? I don't think so...but why do I feel like that's not true?' _

"I just realized that the feelings I have for you aren't romantic. And no Fred, there's no one else," Daphne answered. _'Liar,' _the word echoed in her mind, but she didn't understand where it had come from.

Fred nodded solemnly and then said that they should get going. Daphne agreed and they were on their way.

Fred was keeping his distance from Daphne, and wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings. Daphne looked at him with guilt in her eyes. She really didn't want to do this to him, but she knew that she had to.

Daphne took out the map when they reached a dead end. Her head moved to the left when she realized that the map didn't make much sense.

"There shouldn't be a dead end here," Daphne stated. This was enough to stir Fred from his thoughts. He took the map from Daphne and then laughed. The red headed girl gave him a confused look. She didn't understand what was so funny.

"You're looking at the map the wrong way," he said, still laughing. Daphne took back the map and then noticed her mistake. She huffed then turned on her heels to go back the way they came.

"Ah come on. Don't be sour Daph," Fred tried to sound comforting but failed because he was still laughing. She punched him softly in the shoulder before giving a small laugh herself. He was right. It was pretty funny.

With the tension slightly less dense they made their way back to the main floor where they met up with Shaggy and Scooby.

"Find anything?" Fred asked them.

"Reah! Rood!" Scooby said with a dopey smile plastered on his face.

Shaggy punched Scooby in the stomach with a look that said that he shouldn't have said anything.

Daphne wasn't paying attention to the buffoons, and was instead looking around them.

"Have you two seen Velma?" she asked worriedly. They shook their heads and Daphne's worry only increased. "Maybe we should go and look for her," Daphne suggested.

"Like, calm down Daph. Velms is alright by herself. I'm totally sure that she'll be back soon," Shaggy said.

The four of them decided that they would wait by the front door for Velma so that Velma wouldn't be wondering where they were.

Twenty minutes later, the front door opened. Daphne stood up quickly from her seat but was disappointed when Velma did not walk through the door.

Mr. Trall had entered the castle, completely drenched with water. He shook his head, hitting the group with water.

"Oh, terribly sorry! I didn't see you there. What are you all doing here? And where's the one with glasses?" he asked as he took off his soaked boots.

"You didn't see her?" Daphne asked. The man shook his head. "Alright, that's it. I'm going to look for her," she started her way to the door but Fred stopped her by grabbing her arm.

"Daph, let's just wait a little while longer. We never specified a time to be back. I'm sure she's fine," he said calmly. Daphne stared at him as if he had three heads.

"It's raining out there Fred! And she doesn't know her way around! And you said it yourself earlier that it wasn't safe for her to be out by herself!" Daphne said angrily. Fred backed up a bit, not wanting to get hit by Daphne.

Mr. Trall looked at the scene and decided he should intervene.

"I can ask one of the servants to go looking for her if you want. I'm sure..." he was interrupted by the front door opening.

Velma stood there, dripping wet and had mud on her clothes. She was slightly shivering, but she didn't seem that fazed by it.

Daphne on the other hand, took on look at her and gave her a big hug. One, to warm her up. And two, because she had been worried and was happy that her friend was safe.

"Great! Velma's back. Now we can go eat!" Shaggy exclaimed. Scooby nodded, and the two of them began to walk down the hall.

Daphne pulled back from her hug and looked into Velma's eyes. They seemed distant to her.

"Are you alright?" Daphne asked softly. Velma nodded her head but didn't say anything.

Fred watched the two women and felt that they were standing awfully close to each other, but he just figured that that's how women were. He shrugged off whatever he was feeling and deciding to speak.

"Did you find anything Velms?" he asked. Velma shook her head, letting some of the water fly from her hair.

Daphne could feel Velma shivering from the cold and told Fred to go with the other two and that Velma and she would be with them shortly.

"Would you like some help at all girls?" Mr. Trall asked. Not in a perverted way, but it still sounded odd coming from him.

"We're alright thank you," Daphne said quickly and led Velma to their rooms.

They walked in silence. Velma kept her eyes to the ground while Daphne's eyes roamed Velma's body. She had stopped shivering but she was still cold.

Daphne opened the door to Velma's room and walked in behind Velma.

"Velma, you're really starting to worry me," Daphne said honestly, with concern laced in her voice.

Velma walked to her bag and pulled out some fresh clothes. She cleaned off her glasses then began to change. Daphne felt a blush begin to form on her cheeks but didn't understand why. She had seen other girls change before. Hell she had seen Velma change before, but it felt different to Daphne now.

"I'm sorry for worrying you. I should have gone back to the castle as soon as it had started to drizzle but I felt like exploring some more," Velma said, pulling off her wet top and wiping her top half with a red towel that she had brought.

"Why did you decide to explore by yourself?" Daphne asked as she averted her eyes. The blush still evident on her cheeks.

"I figured we could cover more ground that way. Plus I just wanted some time to myself," Velma explained.

Velma zipped up her bag, signaling that she had finished changing. Daphne looked back at her friend who was now wearing a low cut orange shirt and red skirt. It was different from what Velma usually wore and Daphne couldn't help but stare at Velma.

Now it was Velma's turn to blush. She looked down at her feet and then realized that she had to change her shoes as well. She took off her red shoes and changed them for a pair of red flats.

She walked over to Daphne and took her hand.

"Come on, we should go before all the food is gone," Velma said lightly, giving Daphne a smile. The smile was returned and Daphne allowed herself to be led out of the room.

"You still have to tell me what's been going on remember? You promised," Daphne reminded her. Velma nodded her head.

"Tonight? Once the boys have gone to bed?" Velma asked. Daphne squeezed her hand in response and they made their way down to the kitchen, looking at the map periodically to make sure that they were headed the right way.

Daphne couldn't wait for tonight. She was going to get answers and hang out with Velma. The latter thought brought butterflies to her stomach, but Daphne couldn't understand why. She pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind and just concentrated on talking to Velma about the castle.

Velma had a smile on her face, which in turn made Daphne smile too. This was going to be an interesting night.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Secrets

Mr. Trall had decided to join Mystery Inc. for dinner which made the dinner a little odd. He kept trying to talk about the history of the town and such, which was fine but only if the story was told once.

Velma and Daphne had sat together and mostly chatted amongst themselves. Fred would occasionally glance at the two and wonder when they had become so close, but Mr. Trall would always pull him out of his thoughts with more of his exciting tales.

Once Scooby and Shaggy had eaten everything but the utensils, plates, and tablecloth, Mr. Trall tried to entice them to stay up longer but everyone declined. Scooby, Shaggy, and Fred were tired and just wanted to go to sleep. While Daphne and Velma wanted to get away from all the boys and just talk.

"Roodnight!" Scooby said happily to Fred, Daphne, and Velma as he and Shaggy entered their room. Fred said goodnight to everyone as well and soon only Daphne and Velma were left in the corridor.

"I'm just going to get my pajamas on and brush my teeth okay? Then I'll be right in," Daphne promised. Velma nodded her head in response and made her way into her bedroom. She decided to get changed as well and to brush her teeth. As she brushed her teeth Velma changed her skirt for a pair of red pajama bottoms, she decided not to change her shirt since she felt comfortable in it and didn't see a reason to change.

Soon there was a knock on the door and Velma said to come in. Daphne entered and quickly shut the door behind her, making sure to lock it. She didn't want any of the creepy stuff that Mr. Trall was mentioning to come in.

When Velma saw Daphne her eyes widened. Daphne was wearing short green shorts and a purple scoop shirt. One, Velma couldn't believe that Daphne was comfortable in that and second...wow.

Daphne ran and jumped onto the bed in a childlike manner and grinned ear to ear. With that childish look, Velma couldn't help but smile back at her. The brunette made her way onto the bed with Daphne and laid down on her stomach. Daphne watched her decided to do the same.

"So," Daphne started. "You owe me some secrets."

"Actually I'm pretty sure it was only one. Wasn't the deal 'a secret for a secret'? Which would mean that since I only received one secret I shall only give one secret," Velma said quickly. Daphne placed her left hand on Velma's right hand and gave it a gently squeeze.

"Velms..." Daphne trailed off, knowing that that was all that needed to be said. Velma sighed and then went deep into thought, not knowing what she should say. Finally, after much deliberation she chose.

"Do you remember the Betty sisters?" Velma asked. Daphne nodded. Of course Daphne remembered them, she and they had been the most popular girls at Coolsville High. "Well in high school they bullied me a lot. Of course they did it whenever you weren't there because they knew that we were friends, but they still did it. Every day," Daphne looked at her in a confused manner. Why hadn't she known this? How had she been completely unaware of this fact for so long? "Anyways, I bumped into them two weeks ago and I already wasn't feeling too good so they really did not make my day any better. Quite the opposite actually," Velma stated.

"What did they do?" Daphne asked, giving Velma another reassuring squeeze.

"They started bullying me again, and I was already so fed up with everything else going on I lashed out at them. Turns out that that was a bad idea," Velma's voice quivered slightly but she continued on. "Their boyfriends weren't too far away and they heard me yelling at their girls so they stepped in. The girls...they told the boys that I was harassing them and well, they didn't like that. One guy punched me and the other kept egging him on. All the while the girls were throwing insults at me. It was all just...a lot to handle," Velma admitted weakly.

During Velma's story Daphne's emotions had gone from angry, sad, and then furious._ 'How dare they hurt __my __Velma like that?' _Daphne thought to herself_. 'Wait. My Velma? Since when was she mine?'_ She let that thought move away as she had more important things to focus on.

"I never saw a bruise on your face," Daphne stated. Half asking why and half stating what she knew.

Velma just nodded and didn't say anything for awhile. Suddenly a small laugh came from Velma.

"It's funny. Here I thought that I had become stronger since high school, but that event showed me that I'm no different than how I was back then," Velma said.

At this Daphne sat up and made Velma sit up with her. The red haired girl took Velma's hand into her own and looked at her seriously.

"Don't say that. You have changed so much. You are more confident, more brave, smarter, and you have saved all of our asses basically every single time there has been trouble. You are amazing Velma Dinkley and don't you dare believe a word those two twerps say. Okay?" Daphne said sternly.

Velma's eyes turned slightly watery and Daphne thought that she may cry but no tears came.

"Those twerps are your friends Daph," Velma pointed out. Daphne shook her head and looked at Velma.

"You are my friend."

Velma smiled happily at this and mouthed a silent thank you to Daphne before putting her arms around her and pulling her in tight for a hug. Daphne quickly responded and hugged her friend back.

Once the hug had finished Daphne was back to business.

"Alright, next secret," Daphne stated.

"We discussed this remember? I'm only giving you one secret," Velma said plainly.

"That was if you only received one secret right?" Velma nodded. "Well I'm going to give you another secret."

Velma looked at her curiously and wondered how many secrets the woman before her had. They had been friends for years and yet it seemed like they both were only now getting to know each other.

Daphne looked at Velma for permission to continue and when Velma nodded she did.

"I talked to Fred today," Daphne said. Velma's eyes widened in surprise. "He seemed upset and he asked if there was someone else," Daphne's eyes cast downwards and she began to play with the string on her pajama shorts.

"Is there someone else?" Velma asked softly.

"That's the thing, I don't know. I was pretty sure that there wasn't but when I said it out loud a little voice popped into my head that said liar. I know that I didn't want to be with Fred because I didn't like him that way but I was not aware that it was also because I like someone else," Daphne said very fast. She was lucky that it was Velma listening and not someone else because no one else would have understood what Daphne had just said.

They sat there quietly for a couple moments. Daphne thinking it over in her head and Velma carefully figuring out what she was going to say.

"You don't know who this person is right?" Daphne nodded in agreement. "Well maybe there is no one. If you honestly have no clue who this person is then they may not exist," Velma said. Daphne slightly nodded her head and muttered maybe, but she didn't really believe it.

Velma could see the internal struggle Daphne was having, trying to figure out who the person was but Velma could also see the tiredness in her friends eyes.

"Hey, let's go to bed okay? We can talk about it some more later, but for now you look like you could use some sleep," Velma said calmly as she slowly stood up from the bed.

"Can I stay here?" Daphne asked. Velma smiled and nodded. She watched as Daphne crawled into the left side of the bed and got underneath the covers.

Velma walked to the door, turned off the light and tried to make her way back to the bed. It was pitch black and she had no idea where she was going.

She heard Daphne giggle at her attempt to locate the bed and she followed the laugh. It didn't take her too long to find her way to her side of the bed and once she had crawled in, she placed her glasses on the side table.

Daphne and Velma were facing towards each other and both of them could barely see the outline of the other person. Tentatively, Daphne moved her arm from underneath the covers and found Velma's hand.

"You owe me a secret," Daphne whispered.

Velma searched for Daphne's eyes but in the dark could not find them. Although she could feel that Daphne's eyes were searching for hers too. Velma took a deep breath before giving away another one of her secrets.

"Sometimes I wish that I wasn't smart. That I wasn't the nerd who always had her nose in a book and who was constantly experimenting with science. Sometimes I just wish...that I wasn't me," she finished softly.

If Velma could have seen Daphne's face she would have seen a confused and shocked face. Daphne couldn't believe that Velma felt like that. She always thought that Velma loved being so smart and knowing everything.

"But, don't you like reading and doing your sciency stuff?" Daphne asked. Velma laughed when Daphne said 'sciency stuff' but quickly went back to being serious.

"Of course I do, but I can't help but wonder how high school would have been like if I had been like you. You know, popular, a cheerleader, always off having fun, not caring about your grades. I just wish that once I could have done that and not felt any guilt," Velma said tearfully.

She didn't want to continue this conversation. Velma could already feel the tears worming their way to her eyes and she did not want to cry. So she turned her back to Daphne and said goodnight.

"Velms..." Daphne tried, but Velma would not speak. Daphne sighed and decided that if she couldn't verbally help her friend, she could at least provide some sort of comfort.

Daphne scooched closer to Velma and placed her arm around Velma's waist. When she felt no resistance, Daphne pulled her friend in closer to her. She could hear the almost silent sobs that Velma was trying so desperately to hide.

Hearing her friend be this upset was heart breaking to Daphne. She wanted anything to make Velma be happy. Except, Daphne didn't know how to do this. The red head decided she would say one last thing to Velma before giving up and going to sleep.

"I love that you're so smart," Daphne whispered into her ear. "I might act annoyed sometimes when you are always right but that's just because I envy you a little. I love that you always have your nose in a book and that I can sit down right next to you and you won't even notice. You're perfect Velms," Daphne said truthfully. And those were the last words spoken that night. A smile on both of their faces as they drifted off to sleep.


End file.
